DIY Cold Brew Coffee for When You're Broke but Need Caffeine

So much easier than braving that Starbucks line...

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In my time at Spoon University, I've written quite a few articles about coffee. I love this stuff: it gets me up in the morning and powers me through classes. But I can't deny that it costs a good chunk of money, especially cold brew. To remedy this issue, I thought I would try my hand at DIY cold brew coffee.

This recipe was super easy, and allowed me to use the leftover ground coffee I had in my room. By and large, I followed the steps from this recipe, but had to add my own adjustments for some personal flair. With these steps, you'll never need the drive through again.

Step 1: Assemble What You'll Need

Shannon Carney

For your own DIY cold brew coffee, you'll need coffee (obvi), some measuring cups, a wooden spoon, and a large pitcher to hold your coffee. Later on, you'll need something to strain the coffee with.

The recipe I based my coffee on used unflavored coffee, but I went with hazelnut coffee. Cold brew is sweet enough on its own, but I thought that the hazelnut would really amp up the flavor of the finished product.

Step 2: Grind and Measure Your Coffee

Shannon Carney

For this step, many would tell you to grind your own coffee beans. I don't know about you, but I really don't have full coffee beans laying around the house. If you do, go for it! But, I chose pre-ground, pre-packaged coffee for my blend.

Using ground vs "whole" beanswon't impact your DIY cold brew coffee too much, but since the pre-packaged coffee is already so finely ground, it'll just make your coffee that much stronger once it begins to steep. Either way, you'll want one cup of ground coffee.

Step 3: Just Add Water

Shannon Carney

Next, add your grounds into your pitcher.
Once the grounds are in the pitcher, you'll need to add the water. What's coffee without water? For each cup of grounds that you include, you'll want to add in two cups of water.

I actually doubled this recipe to use up the coffee grounds that I already had. So, for my cold brew coffee, I added four cups of water. You can obviously add as much water as you want, but the more you add, the weaker your coffee will be in the end.

Step 4: Stir, stir, stir

Shannon Carney

This is probably the easiest step of this entire foolproof recipe. All you have to do is stir. Yep, that's it. Just make sure that all of the grounds are wet and covered with water.

To get the full flavor, you'll want to steep your DIY cold brew coffee for at least 12 hours to get the full flavor. Since I doubled the recipe, I let mine sit for a full 24 hours.

Step 6: Strain the Grounds

Shannon Carney

I've had one too many cups of coffee that are nothing but gross grounds at the bottom of the mug. To avoid that with your cold brew coffee, you'll want to strain it. Take a cheesecloth and secure it over the mouth of the vessel you'll be pouring your coffee into. Then, take your batch out of the fridge and pour it directly over the cheesecloth.

#SpoonTip: If you don't have a cheesecloth, coffee filters work just as well. It'll just take a little longer to strain.

Step 7: Pour and Enjoy

Shannon Carney

After the long wait and straining, it's finally time to try your DIY cold brew coffee! Just pour over ice and add whatever usual fixings you need. Make it sweet and creamy, or drink it black. Whatever suits your fancy—this is your own batch of cold brew after all.

There are always going to be some days when you don't want to leave the house, but still need your coffee. With this recipe, you can make your own cold brew coffee and not even have to think about that crazy drive through line.